The switch to PIN-only credit card payments at the start of the month has had a major impact on the hospitality industry. Some full-time workers have seen their take-home pay drop by hundreds of dollars a week since the switch.

It’s a change that has seriously messed with the delicate social ritual of tipping, argue the waiters.

Nick Powell, floor manager at Sydney’s Searock Grill, said his staff had seen a reduction of up to $250 per week since the changes. “When customers could sign, it gave them the chance in their own time to think about the service they received and whether they wanted to tip,” he said.

“With the PIN it removes that buffer zone, the comfort for the guest to decide. They don’t want to feel pressured while you’re standing there. And a lot of the time when the tip section comes up [on the Eftpos machine] they start to enter their PIN and have to start again.”

Several doors down at Eastbank Café Bar and Pizzeria, manager Sam Mekdad told a similar story. Tips have gone down by around 40 per cent, which Mr Mekdad attributed to the PIN changes.

“Before when people could sign, they had the opportunity to leave tips,” Mr Mekdad said. “Now it’s much more difficult — it’s rude to ask for a tip when the customer is using the machine.”

The move to PINs has left his staff around $300 per week worse off, he said.

Mark Ilitch, manager at City Extra restaurant just around the corner, said while he had definitely noticed a reduction in tips since the introduction of PINs, PayPass had had much more of an effect.

Have the banks signed tipping’s death warrant?Source: News Limited

Mr Ilitch estimated tips had reduced by between 30 to 40 per cent since ‘tap-and-go’ payments began to gain popularity around 12 months ago.

“Tipping has definitely gone down with the PIN numbers, but PayPass has had much more of an impact,” Mr Ilitch said. “Nobody has been talking about that.”

David O’Byrne, acting national secretary of hospitality workers union United Voice, said it was a story he was hearing from members across the country.

“It’s pretty clear that one of the few bonuses of working in the hospitality industry is drying up,” he said. “The average wage is very low, there are high levels of casual staff, and one of the few bonuses you would get when you did provide service above the standard is now disappearing.”

Mr O’Byrne said it was too early to tell what the wider economic impact would be, but hit out at the restaurant and catering industry over Fair Work Australia’s decision to cut weekend penalty rates for casual staff.

That decision is currently being appealed by the United Voice in the Federal Court, with the next hearing scheduled for Monday August 25.

“At the same time that you’ve got tips drying up, you’ve got restaurants and caterers who in one breath say they want to help their workers, and in the next say they want to cut weekend rates,” he said.

Mr O’Byrne rejected claims the high weekend rates were negatively impacting employers. “The hospitality industry in Australia is growing — some places are closing but overall it is growing. There is a market there and they need to be able to hire good staff.

“Cutting weekend rates further puts pressure on the turnover in the industry. How do you build a skilled industry when you have such high levels of turnover and casualisation?”

Are you glad tipping is on the way out? Or do you feel for the hospitality workers? Leave your comments below or write to the author at frank.chung@news.com.au

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Comments on this story

Reply to all no hospo people of Sydney Posted at 3:12 PM August 25, 2014

What I have been reading is shocking!!!people saying "start to work at 7am and than I will tip" "waiter r just servant" "it is not in the Australian culture to tip" and so on...well who start at 7am finish at 5pm and work for 8/9 hours per day with a grand total of 40ish hours p/w.hospo people don't do less than 45 minimum per week and start at 10am and finish at 12.30 at night for the same salary($700 p/w).i do agree there r some places where the service it's horrible and they do not deserve tips but it's not fare generalize!!!if the hospo industry is full of incompetent people why the restaurant r full all the time all the week??why u people that think hospo r just cooks and servent don't stay home and cook for yourself in stead of going out get smashed and abuse them?or why (because u r the only one to work hard)try to work in a restaurant w people demanding things that they don't even know what they r talking about!!!work all of the public holiday in stead of being w your family or friends(in a restaurant).just think about it...what kind of life hospo does and the other does.if u think tipping it's not right,well stay at home and study bon ton(if u know what it is)than u can call US servant!!!

Pele of USA Posted at 8:35 AM August 25, 2014

Dumb argument really. I've been a waitress, in the USA they lucky to get paid $2.50 an hour because of the tipping expectation, and they have to pay tax on 8% of their meal tickets regardless if they got tips or not.
You Aussie waitstaff have it sweet - but hey go ahead and have a whinge. TIPS - To Insure Prompt Service, which is often sadly inferior in Australian restaurants. I've run into so much bad service in AU that would never be tolerated in the USA, you really shouldn't "expect" tips just for showing up! Talk about entitlement syndrome. lol

Phil of Sydney Posted at 7:50 AM August 25, 2014

i work like a dog and my pay is only $700 after tax per week, and tipping alone they gain $300 a week? maybe i should change my job. I won't tip and so do my friends, this is australia.

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